ENGLISH
REFERENCE

polish off

idiom
Meaning

To finish completely, especially a food (polish the plate with one's tongue) or liquor.


Examples
SIMPLE

He polished off the whole pizza in ten minutes.

CONTEXTUAL

After the long hike, the kids polished off their sandwiches and asked for more.

COMPLEX

The guests had polished off the last of the wine by midnight, leaving only empty bottles and scattered corks on the terrace.

Anchors to
Related idioms3entries
  1. 01

    polish a turd

    To work on a time-consuming and ultimately pointless or impossible task; to try to perfect what is inherently bad.

  2. 02

    Polish parliament

    A deliberative but indecisive institution.

  3. 03

    you can't polish a turd

    Something inherently unfavourable or unpleasant cannot be improved.

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